


Backpacks and Broken Bones

by JetpacksAndRollerblades



Category: Captain America - All Media Types, Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Abandoned Work - Unfinished and Discontinued, Alternate Universe - Modern: No Powers, Camping, Injury, M/M, Post-Serum Steve Rogers, Stucky - Freeform, and yes the dog lucy is basically a genderbent version of Clin'ts dog 'lucky', art teacher steve, bucky speaks google translate russian, but there's no serum
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-05-06
Updated: 2016-09-19
Packaged: 2018-06-06 15:58:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 6,845
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6760468
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JetpacksAndRollerblades/pseuds/JetpacksAndRollerblades
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Steve Rogers, a high school art teacher who prefers the quiet of nature and the company of his dog over the noise and bustle of the city comes across an adventure by mistake when he finds and unconcious and injured (and beautiful) young man on one of his week-long backpacking trips.</p>
<p>(ABANDONED, INCOMPLETE)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Growing up as a poor asthmatic kid in the smog-filled city, Steve never really truly understood the full capacity of the phrase 'fresh air'. Having trouble breathing was just a normal part of his life. Even after his shocking growth spurt in Sophomore year of art school and most of his previous ailments seemed to be almost miraculously fixed, there were still times when the air quality inside the city in the summer made things difficult for his lungs to do their job properly. It was because of this that recently he'd taken to spending his free time (and extra money) on camping trips in the mountains. Well, he didn't think of it himself, his old roommate, Nat, suggested it for him. And honestly, Steve knew she was right most of the time anyways, so he decided to give it a shot.

He started out with just day hikes, but it seemed almost like a waste to take such a long trip just to spend a few hours by himself in nature. Well, not by himself, actually, he brought his yellow lab, Lucy, along with him every time. Eventually he finally convinced himself to splurge on some backpacking supplies so he could start taking longer and more interesting trips. Soon enough, Steve and Lucy were backpacking pro's, and they took trips whenever they could, which meant 'most weekends, breaks, and days off'. Steve didn't really have any friends, and the trips made him feel content with himself, so he didn't have too much of a reason _not_ to go.

Steve was an art teacher at a somewhat prestigious private school in Manhattan. He didn't really agree with the idea that people who could pay more should get a better education, and he didn't particularly get along with any of the other teachers at the school, but he needed the money, so he took the job. Many of the students were the stereotypical rich kids that he'd been expecting when he first applied, but there were also many other types of kids. Some of them were really great at art, and many of them were excited and enthusiastic to learn more. They even asked him to be the proctor of the “Art History Club”, which might have sounded somewhat boring, but was actually the a very fun and interesting experience.

But being a teacher meant having the summers off, which was fantastic. Summer was when the air in the city was the worst, so Steve spent almost his entire break hiking from place to place, living off of weird dehydrated foods and having no one to talk to but his dog. And he _loved_ it.

Steve was on the third day of his first trip of the summer. Lucy had woken him up early, so he'd figured he might as well not waste time. He ate some food quickly, packed up his stuff and got on the move. He had a lot of land to cover that day if he wanted to get to the next authorized camping spot before nightfall. Of course, he could just camp somewhere on the side of the trail, but that could end up throwing off his whole plan, so he was glad for the early start.

The terrain wasn't extremely simple to traverse, but it wasn't too rough either. Steve didn't have to focus too much on where he was putting his feet, so instead he directed his attention to his surroundings. It was almost uncomfortably chilly the previous night, but since the sun rose the temperature increased quickly. There were flowering plants everywhere, fully leaved trees, and rocks covered in the greenest moss imaginable. There were birds singing their joyful, warbling songs, and squirrels running from tree to tree both on the ground and in the trees above Steve's head. Steve found himself smiling softly at the perceived perfection of the scene unfolding around him.

All of a sudden, Lucy took off as fast as she could, away from the trail, barking in a loud and panicked fashion, startling Steve out of his serene mood. “Lucy, wait!” Steve yelled, and dropped his pack and started to run after her. “Lucy! Come back!” He didn't know what set her off, she was never very big on chasing squirrels before. He just hoped that she wouldn't get lost or separated from him. The bushes and brush made it more difficult for Steve's large, 6'2” frame to slip through than it was for the much smaller dog.

Steve continued calling Lucy's name and following the sound of her barks. Steve was worried and confused about what was wrong, but it didn't sound like she was running away from him anymore; the volume of her barks was increasing as if he was getting closer to her. Finally, Steve came into a clearing at the bottom of a small cliff to find Lucy running circles around something and barking, as if she was trying to tell Steve something important. “Lucy, what's wrong, girl? Why'd you run all the way down here?” Steve walked towards Lucy and tried to calm her down, relieved that she was okay. As he was trying to keep her still and pull her away from the pile of something that she was so worried about, the pile made a strained moaning noise and what might have been a failed attempt to move.

For the first time since getting to the clearing, Steve actually looked at the thing that Lucy had brought him so far off of the trail to see. But it wasn't a _thing_ , it was a _person_. “Oh, shit,” Steve breathed, and surged forward and dropped to his knees next to the man, trying to gauge how bad the situation was. He rolled the man onto his back and checked his vitals. The man's breathing and heart rate seemed to be fairly stable, which was good. Then Steve moved on to check for other injuries. He figured that the man must have fallen off of the cliff somehow and landed on his left arm wrong, because it seemed to be bent in an entirely wrong way, but nothing else seemed to be broken. Then Steve moved on to check for any sort of head wounds. Luckily, there didn't seem to be any external damage, but of course, that didn't rule out the possibility of a concussion.

After Steve burnt through his initial adrenaline rush and had figured out what injuries this person had and what he might be able to do about it, he finally sat back and actually looked at the person. And _wow_ , he was _attractive_. He was smaller than Steve, but solidly built, with a strong jaw and long eyelashes. His hair was dark and long, almost all the way down to his shoulders. Steve shook his head, as if that would help him rid his mind of those thoughts. This was an emergency, he needed to get himself and this man back to the trail and his backpack and supplies.

Hoisting the semi-conscious man off of the ground and draping the man's arm across his shoulders so that he could transfer most of his weight onto Steve. “Come on, Lucy, let's get back to the trail,” He said, and started to make his way back the way he came from. 'Well, so much for getting a head start', he thought.


	2. Chapter 2

By the time that Steve finally found his way back to where he'd dropped his backpack, it was almost noon and the man seemed to be more conscious. He hadn't said any words yet, but Steve was willing to give him time. He could have a huge concussion for all Steve knew. Steve found a good rock for sitting on and led the man over to sit down on it. Then he went back over to his pack and started to get some protein bars and a canteen of water out for lunch, and some food for Lucy as well. He placed Lucy's food on the ground and pet her head, and then walked back over to the rock where the man was sitting.

Steve expected the man to be still mostly unconscious, and was very surprised when he saw the alert look on the man's face that morphed into fear as Steve got closer. “Кто ты блять?” The man yelled at him. When Steve continued advancing towards the man, he pulled a small knife out of his torn up jacket and yelled, “Убирайся от меня подальше!”

Seeing the weapon and the dangerous look on the man's face, Steve came to a halt, and held up his hands slightly to show that he didn't intend to harm the guy. “Hey, it's okay, I'm not gonna hurt you, okay? I was just bringing you some food and water.”

The man looked confused for a moment, looking from Steve to the knife in his hand and back again. He didn't really look scared any more, just suspicious. That's when it dawned on Steve. The words that the man was yelling at him before didn't sound like English. “Are you, um, I mean, do you speak English?” Steve asked, slowly, making sure to continue keeping his body language as non-threatening as possible.

“Что?” the man replied before adding, “I mean, sorry, yes, I speak. English.” Luckily, his accent wasn't too thick, so he was entirely understandable.

Steve breathed a sigh of relief. He didn't know what he would do with an injured, scared, angry, and confused man who didn't speak his language. “Thank god,” he breathed, and tried for a smile, “My dog found you injured and passed out without any supplies, so I carried you back here. I think I have enough food for the both of us for a few days, and there's supposed to be a water source near here to refill my containers, if my map is accurate. Oh, my name is Steve, by the way,” Steve said, and put his hand out for a handshake.

The man looked at Steve's hand and then back down to his own, where he was still holding the knife. He slowly put the knife away and reached out to take Steve's hand. “James,” he replied. His voice was quiet but his handshake was firm.

“So, James, how about you eat or drink something and we can talk about how to deal with your arm?” James looked down at his left arm as if he hadn't even noticed that it was broken, examining it with his right hand. After a few seconds he stopped looking at it and accepted the food and water from Steve. He didn't seem very bothered by the fact that his left arm was hanging broken and useless by his side, which confused Steve.

The man, _James_ , Steve reminded himself, seemed to pick up on this confusion, and said, “I cannot feel or use my arm. Nerve damage. Long time ago. Broken bone doesn't matter.” Then he went back to eating, as if that was a complete explanation that made total sense and didn't leave Steve with even more questions in his head than before.

“Oh, um, okay,” Steve said, “Shouldn't we try to set the bone anyways?”

James waved his right hand as if he was swatting away the idea. “Not necessary,” he said, finishing the protein bar and taking a swig from the canteen. “Thank you for this,” he said, “Now I should go.”

James started to stand up as if he was really going to leave, but Steve jumped in front of him and pushed him back down onto the rock, saying, “What? No way, man! You're injured and you have no supplies!”

“I am fine. I can manage.”

“No, I'm not letting you do that, it's way too dangerous! Do you even have a map?”

James checked the pockets of his jacket and then sighed resignedly, “I understand your point. What do you suggest?”

Relieved that James wasn't still trying to get away, he relaxed a bit, but then he realized that he had no idea what his 'suggestion' would be. Shit. He had to think of a plan, and fast. “Uh, how about we start by figuring out what supplies we have between the two of us?”

James seemed to think that was a good place to start as well. He nodded in agreement and started emptying his pockets. He didn't have much, just the basics; a lighter, a small empty canteen, a headlamp, and knives. Steve was actually quite alarmed by the amount of knives James produced from his pockets, belt, and shoes, but he decided that at this point it would probably be best not to ask.

Steve took a small inventory of the stuff that he had in his own backpack as well. They examined the supplies together. He had a small tent, a compact sleeping pad, and a sleeping bag, as well as enough food to last him and James approximately 2 days, maybe 3 if they were really frugal with it. Steve also had a map, which he and James poured over, discussing what would be the best and quickest way to hike down to a highway or parking lot.

They were basically in the middle of nowhere. The nearest piece of civilization was about a 25 mile hike from where they approximated they were probably standing. The good news was that that 'piece of civilization' was a family campground that Steve figured would probably have a camp store that would sell food, and a telephone to call Nat. He hoped she wouldn't mind coming to pick them up.

Seeming satisfied with their plan, James was anxious to get on the move. Steve couldn't blame him, really. They had a long ways to go, that was for sure, and they didn't have too many more hours before the sun would start to set, so they packed their stuff up and set off, James in the lead, followed shortly by Steve, with Lucy running excitedly back and forth between the two of them.

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ok, so the intended translations are as follows:  
> "Кто ты блять?" - Who the fuck are you?  
> "Убирайся от меня подальше!" - Get the hell away from me!  
> “Что?” - What?


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shoutout to Bennyfox for the help with the previous chapter!  
> Also, I realize that I should probably figure out some sort of uploading scedule but I don't know how well I work with specific deadlines so you guys might just have to deal with some sporaticness... sorry...

The rest of the day was beautiful, just like the morning had been. Thankfully, the spring that was marked on the map was actually running, and they refilled Jame's canteen and all of Steve's containers. Everything seemed to be going almost laughably well compared to how well the morning went, but hiking silently with James made Steve feel strange. Not uncomfortable, per se, but strange none the less. Steve had never hiked with anyone other than his dog before, so he didn't have much to compare James to, but he still thought James was acting pretty unusual. 'Well duh, Steve,' he told himself, 'He's an injured and possibly concussed man, stuck in the woods, with no one to around to help him except for useless, monolingual Steve and his dog. Of course he's acting unusual. Dumbass,'

Steve was torn from his self-scolding reverie when James stopped short in front of him and Steve ran straight into him from behind. Embarrassed, Steve started to apologize, his face turning red, but James cut him off with a sharp “Sh!” and a hand held up as a warning. He was looking out into the woods as he was searching for something. Steve noticed that he'd pulled out one of his knives again. Not sure what was going on, Steve scanned the surroundings with his eyes. The two of them held still like that for a few seconds, barely breathing, trying to make as little noise as possible.

Nothing happened. A bird took out of a tree and flew away. Lucy, who had been imitating the two men, stopped staring and sat down. She looked up at Steve and James, and cocked her head. Seeing that there seemed to be no danger, James finally let out the breath he was holding and hung his head, his right hand dropping back down to his side. “Sorry about that,” he muttered.

Steve laughed nervously. “Hey, apology accepted. But, uh, do you wanna maybe explain what just happened?” Anyone could get jumpy sometimes, but Steve was starting to question the mental stability of this knife-wielding man.

James looked into his eyes, and for the first time since James had woken up, Steve saw how scared and sad and vulnerable they looked. His eyes seemed to burrow into Steve's soul, begging for Steve to save him from some unknown fate. But then James looked off, down the trail again, and then up to the sky, trying to gauge how long it would be until sunset, and said, “We should get moving.”

“Hey, no, hang on a sec,” Steve started, but James was already pressing on, Lucy trotting along beside him. Steve figured he had nothing to do but follow again, letting all of his thoughts mush together in his head.

Steve wasn't a person who interacted with very many people, but he knew enough about people to know that James was not your average joe. He'd only known this man for less than 12 hours but he could confidently say that he was the most interesting, intriguing, beautiful, and terrifying man Steve had ever met. Steve decided to make a mental list of all the things he knew about James. 

'Number one,' Steve thought, 'He's obviously highly trained and very dangerous. And armed to the teeth, it seemed, always seeming to whip out his knives at any provocation or perceived threat to his safety.'

'Number two, he's scared. Steve had no idea who or what he was scared of, but he could see it there, in his eyes and his mannerisms. The way he carried himself, the way he tipped his head to the side as if he was trying to listen for something that wasn't really there.'

'Number three, he can only use one of his arms, but it doesn't seem to be a handicap to him at all. Maybe he was trained after the accident? What was the accident?' There were too many questions and too few answers.

'Number four, he was quiet.' Maybe he just didn't feel like he knew Steve well enough to talk to him yet. Steve would understand that. Somehow it seemed like there was more to it than that somehow. It seemed like there was more to everything with James.

'Number five, come on, Steve, admit it to yourself, he's attractive.' Steve didn't want to admit it though, not even to himself. It wasn't that he was ashamed of liking a man, no, he'd come to terms with his sexuality years ago. Rather, he was ashamed that he found this enigma of a man, injured in the woods, with an air of mystery surrounding him like thick fog, but Steve's mind kept on wandering back to how strong and powerful James felt against him for the millisecond of time when their bodies were pressed together.

No matter how much Steve vehemently tried to deny it to himself though, it was the truth. Steve felt selfish. 'How full of yourself do you have to be to continuously think about your own desires when the very person you are desiring is struggling and suffering right in front of you?' he thought to himself again.

Steve sighed and looked at the sky. The sun was starting to sink lower toward the horizon and the moon was already rising. All of a sudden, all of the stress and exhaustion from the day's activities seemed to hit him all at once, and he felt very tired. “Hey, James?” he called out, breaking the silence that they had been holding and the sereneness of the quiet woods. 

James jumped a bit in surprise, and turned to face Steve, as if to show that he was listening, but he didn't say anything.

“I was just thinkin', maybe we should start looking for a place to set up the tent?” Steve suggested. “'Cause it's gonna get dark soon and all, I mean,” he added on for good measure.

James nodded in agreement, but seemed to be waiting for Steve to decide where they should set up. Steve felt unqualified and out of place, calling all of the shots like this, but he assumed it was probably only fair for James to let him chose. They were using Steve's supplies after all.

It didn't take too long for Steve to find a spot far enough from the trail to be allowed and also flat and soft enough to comfortably pitch a tent on. James helped pitch the tent, but left Steve to unpack his sleeping pad and sleeping bag on his own, saying that he had to “take a piss”.

While he was waiting for James to return, Steve got out some food and water for the three of them and sat down on a log with Lucy, looking at the sunset and petting her absentmindedly on the head. When he saw the first star come out he laughed softly to himself at the ridiculousness of the situation he'd gotten himself into, then softly whispered, “Star light, star bright, first star I see tonight...”

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was barely edited at all. If you see any mistakes, please, let me know.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Umm.. Sorry for taking forever to update or whatever.  
> No promises about when the next update is gonna be either, okay?  
> Thanks for sticking with me tho..

“What did you wish for?”

Steve jumped, a rush of adrenaline racing through his chest. He turned to see James emerging from the shadows behind the log where he was sitting. Steve let out a small breath of a laugh, relieved that it was just James, and simultaneously embarrassed that he'd been so spooked by what turned out to be nothing.“You startled me, James!”

“Sorry,” James replied, and he really did sound sorry. He walked toward where Steve and Lucy were sitting, and sat down on the log next to Steve before repeating, “What did you wish for?”

Steve hadn't really been thinking of a specific wish when he'd said those words, it was more of a strange Pavlovian response to seeing the night sky like that, maybe something that he'd picked up as a kid from a book or TV show. But now that he thought about it, he knew what his wish would have been, and he felt a bit guilty about it. “Well, if I tell you what it was, it'll never come true, will it?” Steve teased, trying to mask his own embarrassment.

James just shrugged his right shoulder and looked up at the sky. So they sat there for a while, James studying the sky and Steve pretending that he wasn't studying James. James watched the sky in a manor that made it seem less like he was casually stargazing and appreciated natures beauty, and more like he was looking for something in particular. Steve was itching to ask James what he was thinking about, to try and roam around inside his head and pick through his thoughts and _understand._

But it was dark, and Steve had had one of the most mentally, emotionally, and physically draining days of his life, so instead of trying to initiate a conversation, Steve simply said “Hey, I'm gonna turn in for the night, alright?”. Then he stood up, stretched, and made his way over to the tent. Steve unzipped the tent and took off his shoes, but before he climbed into the tent, he turned around to take one more look at James. Steve wasn't sure if James hadn't heard what he'd said or if he'd just felt that it was unnecessary to say anything in response. For a moment, Steve wanted to say something else, but he wasn't sure what he wanted to say so he just shook his head to try and clear out his thoughts, and climbed into the tent.

Steve had set up their makeshift bed inside the tent earlier, because he knew he would be too tired and lazy to do it well later. Usually, Steve would sleep in a sleeping bag, but since both he and James couldn't fit inside of one sleeping bag (and one sleeping bag is all they had) Steve had unzipped the sleeping bag and laid it out flat so they could both lay on it, and had turned the sleeping pad sideways so the both of them could lay their heads on something that wasn't hard ground or rocks. James, of course, had tried to protest, saying that Steve shouldn't have to sacrifice his own comfort for James's, but Steve called bullshit on that. Steve was starting to think this self-deprecating attitude and fear of encroaching on other people's lives was a constant part of James's personality.

It couldn't have been too late, but Steve was debating the pros and cons of just falling asleep in the clothes he was wearing. The more logical side of his brain ended up winning out, and he sleepily took off his pants and shirt and slipped on some sweatpants and a tank top before flopping down onto the sleeping bag.

Although it had been really hot all day, now that the sun had set all the way and the breeze had picked up it had become pretty chilly. It wasn't too cold though, and Steve didn't have very much trouble drifting off. He was almost all the way asleep when he was sharply brought back to consciousness by the sound of the tent being unzipped and the feeling of the cold air rushing in. _“Brisk,”_ thought Steve, absentmindedly, as he sleepily watched James enter the tent. James looked around, unsure, for just a moment, and then let Lucy inside the tent too. Steve smiled.

James lay down next to Steve, still wearing the same clothes as before. Then again, those were the only clothes he had with him, Steve reminded himself. “Hey, James,” Steve said softly, his voice slightly rough with sleep.

James looked over at Steve with a surprised look on his face. He'd probably thought that Steve was asleep, and didn't expect him to say anything. Steve decided to just talk on. “You could borrow a pair of more comfortable pants from me. I brought an extra pair,” he said.

Steve knew that James wouldn't want to accept anything more than basic necessities from him, but he though he'd try anyways. James looked hesitant, but Steve thought it wouldn't be a bad idea to push a little bit, so he said, “Hey, it would really be no big deal, and you'll be able to sleep better if you're more comfortable.”

Steve could see that James was just really tired, like Steve himself, so it didn't surprise him too much when James caved in and said, “Sure, yes, I would borrow your pants.” While running his hand absentmindedly through his hair.

Steve smiled and rummaged around a while until he found his spare pair of sweatpants to lend to James. Natasha always told him that it was unnecessary to bring extra sweatpants when he was just going to be by himself the whole time. She told him that he'd never need them. _“Well, take a look at who was wrong for once, Natasha! Ha!”_ Steve thought, grinning to himself.

He handed the pants to James, and then flopped back down onto the sleeping bag contentedly. If he was a bit more awake or aware he might've been a bit more worried about how okay he was with this whole insane situation. Well, he could work on being worried about all this shit in the morning. For now, he was just going to fall back asleep content with himself and his situation. “G'Night, James,” he said.

Steve wasn't expecting anything in reply, so he was surprised to hear James voice come from next to him a few seconds later. “Bucky,” was all that he said.

Steve popped his head up and looked at James quizzically, not understanding what he'd meant. “Sorry, what?” he asked, trying to sound curious and not judgmental.

“You can call me Bucky,” James (Bucky?) clarified, “If you want,” he added, refusing to make eye contact with Steve.

“Okay then, g'night, Bucky,” Steve said, laying his head back down again.

“Good-night, Steve,” James (no, _Bucky_ ) replied, and Steve wasn't sure if he'd imagined how much it sounded like Bucky was smiling.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you saw any grammar problems or anything, let me know in the comments please, I didn't revise or edit this thing very much, and i definitely won't be offended if you tell me about a problem thanks


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> and i am back!

Steve awoke in the middle of the night to the sound of scuffling coming from outside of the tent, paired with some intelligible cursing of some sort, Lucy's worried barks, and no one in the tent beside him. Momentarily confused and disoriented, he rubbed his bleary eyes and shook his head, trying to trigger his memory. All of a sudden, everything clicked into place. _Bucky._ Stumbling slightly in his still-not-quite-awake state, Steve jammed his feet roughly into his hiking boots and tried his best to assess the situation at hand.

The woods were dark, no surprise there, and the moon and stars provided little help as Steve tried to follow the sound of Lucy's barks. Internally, he cursed himself for not thinking to grab his flashlight before he left the tent. _“Too late to go back now, though,”_ he thought to himself. He was pretty sure he was getting close to wherever Lucy was, and whatever she was so upset about.

Sure enough, after only about one or two more minutes of blindly stumbling through the dark forest, Lucy came barreling towards him, running around him in circles and barking. Steve had just enough time to pet her back and ask her, “Hey, what the hell has gotten into you, girl?” before she was running off into the darkness again.

Steve figured he had basically no choice but to follow her again, so that's what he did. Luckily, didn't seem like she'd gone very far. He caught up with her again, and at first didn't see or understand what she was trying to get him to see, but then he saw him. Bucky. He was creeping through the brush, in between trees, his knife in hand, as if looking for something. Or someone.

Adrenaline spiked through Steve's chest and his mind started to race a mile a minute. “ _Oh shit,”_ Steve thought, “ _Shit shit shit shit shit._ _Is this the moment when the man I found in the woods turns out to be completely insane and kills me in the middle of nowhere where no one will ever find me? It is, isn't it? FUCK!”_

It was clear that panic was setting in, along with his fight or flight instincts, and Steve wanted nothing more than to run back to the tent (or maybe even all the way back to civilization) and hide forever, but as he started to back up the way that he came, Bucky spun around and stared straight at Steve. Well, maybe straight through him would be more accurate. There was something wrong with how his piercing eyes were focused, and he didn't look angry. He looked confused and scared.

Abandoning all instincts of self-preservation, Steve took a step forward. Bucky didn't seem to notice Steve's movement. Steve took another step forward. Then another. Lucy ran in confused and anxious circles around the pair.

They were close to one another now, close enough that Steve could reach out and touch Bucky if he tried. “ _That means you're also close enough that he could stab you with that knife,”_ his brain supplied, helpfully.

“Bucky?” Steve asked, softly. Too softly, apparently, because Bucky didn't seem to hear him at all, or at least didn't respond in any way. He tried again, a bit louder this time,“Hey, come on, Buck, put the knife down, okay?”

At that, Bucky looked down at his hand, and almost seemed surprised to see the knife in his tight grip. Then, he looked up at Steve, as if he hadn't noticed that he was there until that moment. Slowly, his fingers loosened and the knife fell from his fist into the decomposing leaves on the forest floor. Steve breathed (what he hoped was) a silent sigh of relief, suddenly feeling very, very tired now that the immediate danger seemed to be gone and the adrenaline in his system was ebbing away.

Steve was about to turn around and walk back to the tent, with the hope that Bucky and his stupidly perceptive dog would both follow behind. Before he could even turn to go, however, Bucky started to fall. His knees crumpled and his upper body slumping forwards. Steve jumped forward to catch him, but his reflexes were dulled by lack of sleep and everything felt like its in slow motion, so he doesn't grab him soon enough to be able to keep them both upright. Instead they both end up tumbling to the ground, limbs slightly tangled together.

Steve turned to Bucky to check to make sure he hadn't hit his head again, but the man seemed to already be asleep. Steve could only hope that it was a so-tired-I-fell-asleep-standing kind of situation, and not a I've-been-concussed-twice-in-one-day-and-I-might-be-dying kind of situation.

Steve sighed again and pushed himself up off of the ground, mumbling, “Man we have got to stop meeting like this,” under his breath. He was so unqualified for this shit. He was an art teacher, for God's sake! He had no idea what was going on, or how to deal with it, he just wanted to get some damn sleep.

Nevertheless, Steve hoisted the yet-again-unconscious man over his shoulder, and asked Lucy to kindly lead them back to wherever their tent was pitched. Lucy obliged, of course, and immediately started making her way back to the camp site, with Steve trudging slower and slower behind her.

Finally, _finally,_ after what was probably only minutes but seemed like _days,_ the odd trio got all the way back to the tent. Steve threw back the flap and dumped the still sleeping Bucky unceremoniously into the tent. He then quickly toed off his boots (He didn't have to untie them because he hadn't bothered to tie them in the first place. Good thing he didn't trip.) and flopped into the tiny tent as well. Lucy followed close behind.

Steve barely had the brain function to think at all, but he managed to get the tent flap completely zipped closed before completely losing consciousness. (And lucky for him, because at this point he was pretty sure that the only thing that could make this weird fever dream of a trip worse would be a couple hundred mosquito bites.)

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> and i am gone again!


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> here it is  
> this chapter was hard for me and im still not super happy with it but i just needed to keep going, you know?

When Steve woke up again, it was morning. The sun was streaming through the top of the tent, which was, yet again, empty. The sweatpants he had lent to Bucky for the night were laying next to him, folded into a neat rectangle. He rolled onto his back and lay there for a while, looking up at the clouds move slowly across the bright blue sky through the screen at the top of the tent.

After a few minutes of laying and thinking, Steve was startled out of his reverie by Bucky's gruff voice coming from just outside the tent, “Steve, you are awake?”

Steve's embarrassingly high-pitched sound of alarm and his shuffling around inside the tent must have been enough of an answer for Bucky, because he continued speaking to Steve from outside of the tent. “We should eat and move along, no?”

Steve was almost too surprised to answer. Not only was that sentence almost definitly the longest thing Bucky had ever said to him, but Bucky had started the conversation of his own free will, and was suggesting they get moving, instead of waiting for Steve to suggest what to do, and simply follow his lead. Steve just managed to choke out, “Sure, yeah, we should,” while shuffling out of his sweatpants and slipping his hiking pants on.

He had just removed his tank top and was reaching for his t-shirt when the tent unzipped suddenly and Bucky's head appeared, saying, “Here is a food bar and some water, but you have to feed your dog yourself, I...” He trailed off when he noticed Steve's state of partial undress, simply staring for a moment at his exposed torso. Steve blushed very visably under the attention, his entire head, neck, and part of his chest turning bright pink under the other mans gaze. Silently, he cursed his fair skin for so mutinously displaying his embarrasment.

But then the moment was gone. Bucky glared at Steve and left the food and water on the floor of the tent, and then was gone again, leaving Steve to put his shirt on in embarrassment and confusion. It had almost seemed as if Bucky was attracted to him, but no, that couldn't be it at all. That option was ruled out by the glare of death he'd given Steve as he left the tent. No, he was probably disgusted with Steve or something. Maybe he thought Steve was trying to show off his body to seduce him and he was alarmed and disgusted at the thought. Yeah, something like that.

Deciding that it was best to ignore all confusing thoughts and emotions and just get on with the day, Steve laced up his boots, grabbed the protein bar and water bottle that Bucky had left for him, and climbed out of the tent. Bucky was sitting on the fallen log, petting Lucy. When he saw Steve emerge from the tent, he frowned again, and quickly looked away, turning his harsh glare turned towards the ground instead. Steve sighed and got out some food and water for Lucy, then pet her on the head and went to sit down next to Bucky on the log, but before Steve could even sit down next to him, Bucky had stood up again. Rather quickly, in fact. If Steve was honest with himself, it was more like Bucky jumped, or even sprang away from him.

“I will,” Bucky began, putting what seemed like a ridiculous amount of effort into not meeting Steve's eyes. He paused, awkwardly, as if he hadn't exactly had a plan for what to say, but just as quickly, he started again, “I will pack up inside the tent.”

He stood still for a moment more, almost as if he was expecting for Steve to contradict him in some way, but Steve just bobbed his head in a small nod and said, “Aight.”

Steve watched Bucky's retreating form with curiosity and perhaps a bit of exasperation. For probably the hundredth time, Steve wondered how the heck he'd managed to get himself into such a strange situation with such a strange man. At least Bucky seemed pretty intent on making himself useful to Steve, a partner rather than a burden. In fact, Bucky seemed almost too intent on helping. _Well, he probably just wants to get out of these damn woods as soon as he can,_ Steve thought.

Steve was more than grateful for his new companions willingness to help out, despite his worries that Bucky will manage to get himself even more injured by overexerting himself in some way. He was also grateful (and pleasantly surprised) that his companion now seemed to find verbal communication an acceptable form of, well, communication. It certainly beats the guess-and-check work that Bucky had him doing just yesterday.

Steve looked up from where he was absentmindedly petting Lucy the whole time he was eating his breakfast to see Bucky struggling to take down the tent by himself. Steve, who felt like he was starting to really understand some of how Bucky's thought processes worked, assumed that there was no way that Bucky would accept defeat against a _tent_ (of all things) and come and ask Steve for help. Steve gave Lucy one more pat, before pushing himself up off of the log and heading over to offer his help.

With Steve's expertise, they had the tent and its contents disassembled and packed into Steve's backpack in practically no time at all, and they were ready to head onto the trail for the day. Bucky and Lucy did one last site check (on Steve's request) to make sure they weren't leaving anything behind by mistake. Steve stayed behind to check the backpack one more time, making sure all of the pockets and straps were secure. It was a very important job, Steve assured himself, and totally not just a thinly veiled excuse to watch Bucky walk around, with Steve's stupidly friendly dog at his side, scanning the ground and talking to her in soft tones. Okay, maybe it was just a lame excuse. Maybe. Steve'll never admit it.

When the site check came up negative and Steve deemed the backpack fit for the day's use, they set on their way. Lucy lead the way this time, with Bucky in the middle and Steve bringing up the rear. The sun was starting to push through the chill of the morning as the clouds blew swiftly across the blue sky. Steve smiled, almost feeling like he shouldn't be, given the situation he was in, but feeling illogically happy nonetheless.

They marched their way down the trail, towards their destination, towards civilization, and away from their campsite, where Bucky's knife still lay, forgotten, and half buried in the decaying leaves.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey leave me a comment or correct my grammar pls thanks
> 
> (i am really not good at dialogue and it is starting to show by me refusing to use dialogue)

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading, yo  
> Please leave any questions, suggestions or compliments in the comments!


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